Women of Mass Distraction
KATE SHAW
I heard the buzz around the latest show at Stella Dore before rounding the corner into Norman Road. Owner Steph Warren is keen to point out that the bringing together of women artists in this way is far from being divisive. It is more of a celebration of art by women and particularly the power found in collaboration. It highlights the necessity of working together and pooling resources to survive in such a challenging financial landscape.
The gallery, founded by Warren in 2007, has its roots in street art and prides itself on showcasing local talent. “Graffiti is my passion, street art pays the bills,” Steph tells me. St Leonards became home in 2018, and it has been host to WMD annually ever since.
Dominating one wall of the gallery is a limited edition print of Bananarella by local artist Shuby. I have to confess to falling in love with this beautiful A1 print which now has pride of place on my living room wall!
A VR experience is underway, provided by Irish-born, St Leonards resident ORNAGH. She is a self-taught artist and has been exploring a variety of mediums, since discovering extended reality in 2021. This includes 3D scanning, modelling and animating, photogrammetry, virtual reality painting, installation and world-building. She describes the characters in her surrealist environments as playful, yet somehow disturbing. A further collaboration between ORNAGH and Stella Dore on 1 April will see short individual virtual reality sessions up for grabs, so you can experience this unique digital world for yourself.
Vanessa Farinha describes her work as exploring the symbols and signs that we hold onto to understand who we are and what it means to exist in the in-between spaces. Now a Hastings resident, she cut her artistic teeth at Goldsmith’s where she studied Fine Art. A child of an Irish mother and Portuguese father, she grew up on a London council estate and this influence can be seen in the Country Estate series, where she subverted icons of royal and government buildings to create fictional council blocks.
Cat Johnston, another artist showcasing here, tells me her work is influenced by folk art, nature and childhood memories. She has worked as an illustrator and model maker and, at a previous show in Centrespace, she invented and built a series of gods.
In a buzzing corner of the shop sits Licence 2 Kale, a coffee, smoothie and juice bar, passionately run by Raquel. “We also sell healthy vegan snacks. No refined sugar, no nasties,” she tells me as she hands over a cup of green goodness. Racquel has recently opened her third coffee shop (this time in Rye) and I’m not surprised. She is a powerhouse of a woman with seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm. She’s been described as an artist working with fruit and veg! “I love collaborations,” she says. “It benefits everyone involved.”
As I take in the multi-disciplinary nature of this show, it strikes me that collaboration, whilst an effective survival strategy, also produces a combined strength that is a powerful force indeed. As Warren points out: “Our resilience is born of necessity.”
There is more than art on offer here though. This is a place where people, artists – and us mere mortals – are invited to connect and support one another. As Warren says: “I sell paintings, but it’s people that I like.” I’m left feeling that Stella Dore is much more than just a gallery.
stelladorestore.com
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